Is Your Business Prepared for Emergencies?

At this time of year it can be pretty easy to get all caught up with the exciting things to be doing over the holidays. Party planning, events, food, and gifts are all part of the fun. Personal life and business life can all be busier at this time of year than at other with plenty to arrange and organize. But along with all of the festivities of the holidays, would you or your business survive if disaster struck over winter?

The changes in season can be a good time to check things over and look into the preparedness plans of your business; do you even have any? The Federal Emergency Management Agency reports have even shown that for small businesses, if something disastrous happens like a fire, flood, or other damage that around half of small businesses never reopen after something disastrous has happened. So that is definitely enough perspective to be proactive and have a plan put in place. Here are some things that you can be doing to make sure that all is well.

Review Current Emergency Plans

By reviewing the current emergency plans that you have, if any at all, you can see where things need to be changed, as well as updating any new policies and staff members with what is expected of them. From the policy of them getting into work when there has been a huge snowstorm to what to do when there is a snowstorm, it is better to be safe than sorry and have something planned out now.

Equipment

Do you have enough of the right equipment in place to help you if there was a problem with something? How about small things like fire extinguishers in the office, or a first aid kit? You could invest in larger items like a snow plow or salt spreader if your business is one that will come to a halt if you aren’t able to get things out of your office or warehouse. So just look at what you have and then think about getting (or hiring) what you might need to see you through the winter time.

Check Insurance

Now is a good time in the year to check the insurance coverage that you have; it can come in handy if there are any problems. But check in detail what exactly it covers. Does it cover natural disasters and loss of inventory? Or would you need some extra coverage for that kind of thing? As the old saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry, particularly when it comes to your business and the fact that a disaster could stop things in its tracks.

Make a Checklist

Making a list of all of the things that your business needs to get going is always going to be a good thing. What are the things that it needs and that the business cannot function without? Then you can source what you need if you have to evacuate, so that things can carry on.

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